Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1887-11-01
ANOTHER GLOBE LIKE OURS.

the briIlancy OF MS ScleDunc Imagination and the
fearlessness with which he uses IL, writes In hi.
most entertaining vein OF "the Inhabitants OF thu
| Planet Mars There is nobody who could dis
! course better than NJ Flammarion on this subject
because there Is nobody who has a stronger faith
than his In the existence OF such Inhabitants liz
( Is the foremost champion in our day OF the doc
trine OF the plurality OF worlds and he possesses
literary fecundity and a stock OF eruditior
I which compel the envtous admiration Of
j those cut-and-d1ed, almaDac-makiag astronomer
/ VINO affect fine contempt for his writings In
Of OFF, the ortnodox circle OF the worshiDers 'C o.
Urana, yet he Is, perhaps, the truest devotee Of
them al nd he ea5nOt be put down. for ne Is al
IDENTIFY able mathematician, he posses .es a com
l petent observatory and his writings show him u
! be a student OF very broad range. It Is wei
| worth the readers while, then, TO listen to what
this captivating French astronomer has to say OF
! one OF our neighboring worlds In the sky, and oil
the intelligent beings who, he THINKS dwell upon
/ its surface.
He begins by recalling familiar knowledge abou,
the motions and appearance OF the planet Mars IL
rotation on its axis In twenty-four hours, thirty
seven minutes and twenty three seconds giving II
| days and nights very little longer than ours; IL.
less than one-sixth that OF the earth and the many
striking features that IL reveal, to the telescope
He thus sums up the general results or this tele
scopic scrutiny:
'For more than two centuries we have observed
from the earth the principal facts OF Marian me.
teorology. From here we behold the formation OF
polar Ice, the failing and the melting OF SHOWS the
incl'm ncies OF the weather, clouds, rains, and
tempests, and the return OF fair skies; In a word
ali the ylcissitudes OF the seasons The success
sion OF these phenomena Is to-day so well estab-
lished that astronomers are able 10 predict the
form, the extent, and the position OK the polar
SHOWS, as well as the probable condition, whether
cloudy or clear, OF It's atmosphere. The geograph-
zeal knowIedge that we actually possess OF the
planet Mars is so Tar advanced that We can make
a general map OF IL.
ITO be sure this map Is still far from being de-
nnitive, and certainly not until century or two
have elapsed shall we be able TO fatter ourselves
that We know II perfectly; yet this knowledge will
continue constantly to improve like that OF ter
restrial geography Itself. When shall we catch
Skeptics smile as they smiled In rne tiin,5 OF Co.
pernicus and Fulton. But he who has confidence In
progress does not despair oi such result, which,
besides, has within itself nothing impossible and
demands, in order 10 be reached, only the conunt-
alton OF modern advances in optics Already the
general geography OF Mars can be represented
with greater certainty than that CT the terrestrial
ATTITUDES about our two poles
IAN the evidence agrees that the seas the
clouds, the polarice OF Mars analogueS Of ours
and the study OF this geography can De pursued
like our own Nevertheless We should not jump
TO the conclusion that absolute Identity exists BE-
tween the geographical and meteorological sys-
tens OF tins TWO planets; Mars shows characters
tic dlsresembances 10 us. our globe Is GOV red 8y
the waters Uf the sea over tn. es-Quarters OF its
surface; our largest continents are, to Sp. TX,
more tnaa ISLANDS, the vast Atlant C, the Immense
Pacific, ill their profund basins with their waters
Upon Mars the partition IS more equal between the
lands aud the waters, and There Is Father more
land than sea; the seas are veritable Mediter-
English channel and Red Sea, aud form a geo
graphical network entirely different from the { T.
restrtdi surface.
Another fact not less worthy OF attention. the
Marian seas exhibit remarkable differences OF
shade. For one thing. they are darker near the
equator than In more remote ATTITUDES, and then
again some OF them are particularly SOmber.
80 wnat cause Is this graduation OF shade due?
The simp.est explanation Is TO say that 1t varies
with the depth.
when one floats in a balloon above large
rfVer. lake, or the sea, II the water is calm and
transparent, one sees the bottom sometimes so
perfectly that the water seems 10 have dSap-
appeared {this Is What h happened TO me, nOta-
bly, one day, the 10Th OF June, 1857 at O'Clock In
the morning, while soaring at a height OF 1000
metres above the Loire); along the edges OF the
oeea one distinguishes the bottom down to a
depth OF ten or fifteen metres, within several hun
dred metres or the shore, according to tue
clearnesS and the condition OF the water Upon
this hypothesis the ligh-sn ded seas Mars would
be those which, Ike the Zuyder Zee for instance.
are.ony few mrtres In depth; the gray seas
would be a little deeper and the black seas the
most profound This Is not, however, the only ex-
planation that can be given, for the tint OF the
water may Itself readily vary In different re hons
the sa ter the water Is the darker, and one can
trace In the sea currents which, like the Gulf
Stream, How as rivers Sllghter density upon the
surface OF the ocean, which forms their bed; t 10
saltne5s depends upon the degree Of evaporation
and It would not be surprising II the equatorial
seas OF Mars were briny and deeper colored than
the interior seas.
.Stin third explanation presents itself to the
mind. We have upon the earth the Blue Sea- the
Yellow Sea, the Red Sea, the White Sea- and the
Black Sea; without being absolute, these gu iifca-
lions answer more or less TO tine aspect OF these
seas. VINO has not been struck by the emerald green
color OF the Rhine at Basic, and OF the Aar at
Berne; by the deep azure OF the Mediterranean In
Seine between Havre and Trouyiiie Visible in
the sea, and by all the various tints that the
waters OF streams and rivers present? The three
EXPLANATIONS, then, may apply TO the wa ers or
Mars as well as TO our own. The light regions may
be only marshes or submerged lands
.'rhe continents are yellow. and this 1t is that
roll trhyo a.
recognizable TO the naked eye. Herein there is an
essential difference with the earth seen from afar
dominates upon our contin nts and our Seas. The
presence OF our atmosphere slightly accentuates
this tint toward blue. With telescopes the as
tronomers or Venus and OF Mercury should see
our as tinted deep green, the continents shaded
a clear green more or less yaregated: the deeerts
yellow and the polar SHOWS very whiLe. clouds
white mountain chains marked by the snowy line
OF their crests. Upon Mars the SHOWS, clouds and
seas offer nearly the same aspect as with Us, but
the continents are yellow, like fields or cereals Of
maize wheat, barley, or oats.
Tine most plausible hypothesis that explains
this eoloraton Is that which attributes 1t TO the
vegetation. Whatever tt may De- that should CARPET
the continents Of Mars. The existence OF contin-
ents and seas shows US that tins planet, like ours
has been the seat OF interior geological movements
which have produced ELEVATIONS and depres,ionS
OF the land There have been earthquakes and
eruptioh5, modifying the originally uniror a crust
OF the gloDe. Consequently there are mountains
aud valleys, plIteaus and basins, precipitous IA
vines and ellis. TauS IL IS dircuiJ not 10 ,es
upon MARS occneS analogous 10 those Which make
up our terrestrial landscapes; brooks flowing over
beds OF pebbles gfided by tine sun; creeks trIyers
Ing the plains or tumoRg IN cataractS to tue bot
tom OF ths valleys; rivers descending slowly 10
the sea across vast stretches or country. The Sc
shores receive THERE here the tribute OF
Canals, and the sea Is now as SmooA as q mirror
and again dashed by a tempest
..Such Is the general physiology OF this neighbor
planet. The atmosphere tnat envelopes IL the
waters that moisUen and feri.ize IL, the sun rays
that warm and Illuminate &c, the winds that sweep
over IL from pole 10 pole the that trans
form IT, are so many elements TO build UP for it
scheme or life analogous 10 that by which our
planet has been gratll1ed The Teebleiess OF Crlv-
tatOn at Its surface must have specially moiitip,i
TINS scheme OF life by adjusting ~ 10 It's plrticu-
lar eoudtlon. so, nenceIOrtn, the globe or liars
should not oe Tor US mere block OF stone re, Oly-
Ing In IN the sing or the solar attraction an
Inert mass sterile and inaninate: but we should
recognize In IL living word, decorated with land
apes resembling those that charm us in terre,-
trial nature-a new word On whtcn a wnole
human race actually dwells, Iabors thinks and
meditites, Witnout dOuot, IKE Us upon the grand
anu my sIeTlOus prObieiRS OF nature. How inter-
esting IL would be tc make a voyage thIiberp
W. EXAMINATION neXt proceeds TO discuss the
special StudleS OF Mars by Ss.niapare,lL the as
tronomer or Milan, who discovered the so-cai.el
Canals upon tIdt planet. Just what that dlscoy-
cry means Is thus explained:
Imagine Il globe like the earth sprtnkled with
continents, guls and islands, wrinkl.d with BANKS
OF various contours, whitenel with resplendent
SHOWS at It's poles, coOrcd with golden Units over
Its tropical linds diversified VITA Clouds ana AT
nloSpHerlc variations winch enable Us 10 perceive
from here It's seasons and It's Climates All thi, we
have long known; but Imagine upon this world
whose rese.aoance 10 ours Is so striking slender
and rectllnear canals crossing ftS ttutnts from
end 10 end, canals from 600 10 5000 kiloneters
ttooa, 90 70 3OVO miles, long, and l2O kiiometers